Welding conveyer



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WELDING CONVEYER Filed July 18, 19258 9 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENT ORS 1/050A. Mr.

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WELDING CONVEYER Filed July 18, 1938 9 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS. 00am45x. 19000;. Pl! 5. hn/Pn.

ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 31, 1940. J. R. LEX ETAL WELDING CONVEYER Filed July 18, 1938 9Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS.

Dec. 31, 1940. J. R. LEX ETAL WELDING CONVEYER 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 FiledJuly 18, 1938 INVENTORJ. doszp/r f? A [1. m ?y (id/nub Dec. 31, 1940.J.-R. LEX- mm.

WELDING GONVEYER Filed July 18, 1938 9 Sheets-Sheet 7 INVENTORS M050Azx. B F0 0A Pl/ //(/P[/. gum I ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 31, 1940.- LEX HAL 2,227,145

WELDING couvmnzn Filed July 1a, 1938 9 ShetS-Sheet 8 ATTORNEYS.

D63, J, ET AL WELDING CONVEYER Filed! July 18, 15338 9 Sheets-Sheet 9INVENTOR5. 1/050 1?. A 5 x.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 31, 1940 UNITED STATES WELDING CONVEYEB Joseph B. Lex andRudolph R. Heupel, Detroit, Mich, assignorl to General MotorsCorporation, Detroit, Mich, a corporation Delaware Application July 18,1938, Serial No. 219,718

9 Claims. (CL 198-19) This invention relates to a shuiiie orintermittent work conveyer and gang 'spot welder.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a plan view. Fig. 2 is an end elevation ofthe'welding apparatus.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 4 is a cross sectionthrough one of the side welding elements.

- Fig. 5 is a plan view of the same.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view of the same. Fig. 7 is a crosssectionthrough the conveyer. Fig. 8 is a plan view of one corner or theminveyer with the underside of the work carrier in horizqontal crosssection taken on line 8-4 of Fig. 9 is a fragmentary elevational view ofthe bumper arrangement.

Fig. 10 is a horizontal cross section through the underside of thecarriage taken on line li-ll ot- Fig. 12 showing the conveyer pin aboutto pick up the carriage for atransverse travel viewed in the directionof the arrows. r

Fig. 11 is a similar view showing the conveyer pin adapted to pick up acarriage tor longitudinal travel.

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary view of the conveyer showing the pick-up pinand some or the other parts in vertical section on line l2-l2 of Fig.10,

Fig. 13 is a plan view of the conveyer showing, in horizontal crosssection, the underside or three carriers.

Figs. 14 and 15 are similar views showing the carriages in differentpositions.

Fig. 16 is aperspective of the work.

Fig. 1'7 is a perspective view of an attached clip.

A, B, and C are three carriages having. on their bottoms, each a bracketor cross arrangement 2 forming a pair of right angularly intersectingchannels 3 and I. 3 is the transverse channel and l the longitudinalchannel. A pair of swinging gates 5 are pivoted at the channelintersection. The chain conveyer' is provided with a pair of drivingpins 6 and I. The pins are guided in channel track 8. There is anotherrectangular channel track designated 8. In this travels a pair of lugsit of each carriage. Ball bearings ll support the sliding carriages.

Referring to Fig. 13, pin 8 is running in inner track 8. It is about toenter the longitudinal channel 4 of carriage A. When sprocket It causesthe pin to change its travel from the iongitudinal to the transversetravel, it picks up car. riage A because it butts against the back ofgate 5. It will be seen that the pin 1 is already driving carriage B asit'butts against the inside o! gate Ii which cannot turncounter-clockwise. Now, referring to Fig. 14, it will be seen that, whenthe pin and thecarriage B get to the lower right hand corner, the pinstarts transversely on 5 the conveyer and the gate rotates and allowsthe pin to escape. The pin I is shown now free from carriage B. When itgets up to the upper right hand corner, it will pick up carriage Cbecause gate 5 will rotate and then, when the pin 10 starts on thelongitudinal run of the track, it will iamb against the gate, as shownin Fig. '15, and cause the carriage C to travel longitudinally oi thetrack.

Now, looking at Figs. 13, 1.4 and 15, it will be 15 seen that there area pair of inner channel cross tracks 12 and a pair of inner longitudinaltracks ll. Each one oi the carriages or tables has four square lugs l0.Consequently, it will be seen, by examining Figs. 13-15 inclusive, thatthe Outer 20 track 8 and the pair of longitudinal and cross tracks I!and I! enable these lugs to guide the carriages A, B and C in a truelongitudinal and v transverse rectilinear movement. These are locking orlocating lugs that hold the carriages nected with a bufler cylinder it."As the stabiliz- 30,

ing lugs arrive at the corneroi the track, they pass over beveledlatches H which snap behind them, as shown in Figs, 7 and 8. These bump-I era are used at the corners of the outside track 9.

Figs. 1, 2 and 3 show a work carriage at the welding station for weldingitems onto the top and front and back of the floor pan, shown in Fig.16. When the carriage arrives at this station', the hydraulic cylinderI8 is preferably automatically tripped or it could be operated by 40hand. This reciprocates rack l9, operating gears 20, which operateanother rack H, which operates gear 22, operating crank 22 and rack itoperates directly on gear I22 to operate crank I22. These cranks operatelinks 24 to lift the same slightly and thrust the carriage upwardly sothe lower electrodes 25 are brought into contact with the channelreinforcing bars 35 that are welded to the floor pan P. The lowerelectrodes 25 are electrically connected to the copper 5o- The floor panhas a depression 38 in which the spare tire rests when the pan ismounted in the body. Electrodes 39, to weld the end of the channel strip40 to the floor pan in the depression, are mounted on a swinging arm 4|which is forced down on the top of the floor pan which here is at anangle of about'45-degrees. This is accomplished by the hydrauliccylinder 42 and the toggle arms '43. Clips 44 are welded to theunderside of the downwardly turned portion of the floor pan by theelectrodes 45 which are reciprocated by means of slide 46 operated byhydraulic cylinder 41. Slide 46 has a pin and oblique slot connection 48with the carriers for the electrodes 45. Channel clips 49 are welded tothe back of the pan by electrodes 50 which are forced in contact withthe pan by hydraulic cylinders 5i. The clip is held in place in theupright copper bracket 52 supported upon the carriage which is part ofthe secondary. These hydraulic cylinders 42, 4! and 5! can be operatedby hand or automatically immediately after the carriage has been raisedby oil in hydraulic cylinder l8.

There are four locations on the conveyer where each carriage remainsstationary for a given period while the conveyer continues to move. Oneis the welding station. The other three stations can be used to unloadthe completed pan, load the reinforcing channels and clips in theirproper recess in .the jig or secondary pad and then, in the thirdstation, throw the pan over the jig.

One or more distributors D can be operated by the electric motor M forsending the current successively through the electrodes after they haveall been brought together. This is an old idea shown, for instance, inthe Ledwinka Patent No. 1,269,617. So, the details of this have not beenshown. 'Very rapid welding can be done in this way and the rate ofwelding can go forward at 400-600 spots a minute. It is only necessaryto utilize a few cycles of the current for each welding shot and, with a-cycle current, this affords 3600 cycles a minute and obviously, thiscan be turned into several hundred welding shots a minute.

We claim:

1. In a continuously moving conveyer having intermittent movement of thework carriage, the combination of a continuously moving conveyer member,a carriage, a station and releasable means operating between theconveyer member and the carriage by the conveyer member changing itsdirection of movement for leaving the carriage at the work station for agiven period for the operation in connection with the work while theconveyer member continues to move.

2. In a continuously moving conveyer having intermittent movement of thework carriage, comprising a continuously moving conveyer member, a workcarriage, a plurality of stations and releasing means operating inconnection with the said carriage and :the conveyer member by theconveyer member changing its direction of movement for successivelyleaving the carriage at the stations for operations in connection withthe work while the conveyer member continues to move.

3. In a continuously moving conveyer having intermittent movement of thework carriage, the

I combination of a continuously moving conveyer member, a carriage, a-station, means operating between the conveyer member and thecarriagefor leaving the carriage at the station for a given period foroperations in connection with the work while the conveyer membercontinues to move, said means comprising a pin continuously moving onthe conveyer member arranged to move the carriage and then release thecarriage at the station whenever the conveyer member changes itsdirection 'of movement.

4. In a continuously moving conveyer having intermittent movement of thework carriage, the combination of a continuously moving conveyer member,a carriage, a station, means operating between the conveyer member andthe carriage for leaving the carriageat the station for a given periodfor the performance of operations in connection with the work while theconveyer member continues to move, the said means comprising a gate onthe carriage, the continuously moving pin on the conveyer memberoperating to strike the gate and drive the carriage and then disengagethe gate when the station is reached and the conveyer member changes itsdirection of movement.

5. In a continuously moving conveyer having intermittent movement of thework carriage, the combination of a continuously moving conveyer member,a carriage, a. station, means operating between the conveyer member andthe carriage for leaving the carriage at the station for a given periodfor the performance of operations in connection with the work while theconveyer member continues to move, the said means comprising a pair ofintersecting channel ways with a pair of pivoted gates, and acontinuously moving pin on the conveyer member arranged to pass into onechannel way and pick up the carriage by jambing with a gate and then,when the pin turns its direction of movement, rotating the gate andpassing out to the channel way leaving the carriage at the station.

6. In a continuously moving conveyer having intermittent movement of thework carriage, the combination of a continuously moving conveyer member,a carriage, a station, means operating between the conveyer member andthe carriage for leaving the carriage at the station for a given periodfor the performance of operations in connection with the work while theconveyer member continues to move, and means for holding steady thecarriage at the station, comprising atrack, a lug traveling in the trackand elements for gripping thelug at the station.

7. In a continuously moving conveyer having intermittent movement of thework carriage, the combination of a continuously moving conveyer member,a carriage, a station, means operating between the conveyer member andthe carriage for leaving the carriage at the station for a given periodfor the performance of operations in connection with the work while theconveyer member continues to move, and means for holding the carriage atthe station, comprising a track, a lug traveling in the track andelements for gripping the lug at the station, comprising a latchingmember and a bumper member.

8. In a continuously moving conveyer having intermittent movement oi thework carriage, the combination of a continuously moving conveyer member,a carriage, a. station, means operating between the conveyer member andthe carriage for leaving the carriage at the station for a given periodfor the performance of operations in connection with the work while theconveyer member continues to move and means for holding the carriage atthe station, comprising a track,

a lug traveling in the track and elements for holding the lug at thestation, comprising a latching member and a bumper member, the lug andthe bumper having interfltting rib and recess engagement. 1

9. In a continuously moving oonveyer having intermittent movement of thework carriage, the combination or a continuously moving conveyer member,a carriage, a station. means operating between the oonveyer member andthe carriage for leaving the carriage at the station for a given periodfor the performance oi operations in connection with the work while theconveyer member continues to move, means for holding the work steadywhen lei't at a station,comprising a plurality of lugs on the carriagetraveling in tracks and elements for grinnin one or more of the lugs tohold the carriage stationary when left at the station.

JOSEPH R. LEX. RUDOLPH R. HEUPEL.

